In their own image: Kuujjuaraapik residents observe their landscapes

Louisa Cookie Brown’s image of two children peering out over a lake has taken the jury’s prize in this year’s landscape photography contest. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FABIENNE JOLIET)

The jury selected Rebecca Cookie’s photograph of a warmly-dressed Inuk fisherman jigging over hole in the ice for second place. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FABIENNE JOLIET)

A jury of Nunavik photographers awarded third prize to Cheryl Bobbish for her image of a tent with a pink and orange sky as a back drop. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FABIENNE JOLIET)

Kuujjuaraapik photographer Jordyn Tookalook picked up the public prize – as chosen by the community – for his image of a towering inukshuk at sunset. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FABIENNE JOLIET)

An image of two children peering out over a lake by Kuujjuaraapik resident Louisa Cookie Brown, has taken the jury’s prize in the second year of a popular Nunavik landscape photography contest.

Fabienne Joliet, an associate professor at the National Institute of Horticulture and Landscape in Angers, France, first launched the photo contest last year in Umiujaq.

Her goal: to see the region through the eyes of local people.

This year’s contest was open to residents of Kuujjuaraapik-Whapmagoostui, but Joliet said many of the 55 submitted photos shared the same themes as in 2010.

“I found the photographers had the same relationship with the beauty of nature – features like sunsets and rainbows – and I noticed a particular attention to tradition,” Joliet said.

The jury selected Rebecca Cookie’s photograph of a warmly-dressed Inuk fisherman jigging over hole in the ice for second place.

Many of the submissions were photos taken over the last few decades, she said, although none took the contest’s top prizes.

This year’s jury was made of Kangiqsujuaq photographer Yaaka Jaaka along with photographers from Makivik Corp, Nunavik Parks and the Avataq Institute.

The jury awarded a third prize to Cheryl Bobbish for her image of a tent with a pink and orange sky as a back drop, while Jordyn Tookalook took the public prize for his image of a towering inuksuk at sunset.

The winning photographers all took home cash prizes courtesy of the French Polar Institute (IPEV), which also funds Joliet’s research on aboriginal perceptions of landscapes.

Although this is the last contest she will coordinate, Joliet said the process has assured her that Inuit have a very strong sense of their own image.

Before she first came to Nunavik, many of the images of the Arctic she saw were taken by non-Inuit.

“It’s really important that (Inuit) are part of presenting their landscape to the outside world,” she said.

“I think the beauty of the landscape is also one of the major preoccupations linked to climate change.”

Joliet said the photographers she met expressed an interest in sharing their photos as a way of spreading awareness about how their landscape is changing.

Winning images are destined for a photo album that Joliet hopes to reproduce for the community, including text explaining each image.

The album could be used as a tool for tourism or for local classrooms, she said.

Winning photos could also find their way into a planned interpretation centre for the region’s new Tursujuq Park.